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This week’s video is really different – I went on a ski trip to a cabin in the wilderness with my wife… we skied into the cabin at 11,000 feet, miles from the nearest road (or cell service). Here’s what it looked like (along with some insights about business and life that I had after spending 4 days completely disconnected)…

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86 Replies to “Cabin In The Wilderness (+ Insights on Life and Business)”

    • Aboslutely agree!!! Thanks Jeff. This video defintely flipped on a major switch!!! This is the small change that I needed to get major results. Thank you.

  1. My story is similar. Grew up in MN and moved to Montana to go to college and got hooked on mountains and wilderness too. I lived in your neck of the woods for several years, Leadville for 8 as the Wilderness Coordinator at a private school, then down on the Front Range. My wife and I moved our family back to Montana (Bozeman) a couple years ago and skiing, hiking and playing outdoors is a vital component to our lives! Love what you do, keep on inspiring!

  2. What an inspiring adventure for you, Jeff. Do full of passion and love for life, nature, and family. Just amazing. Thank you, really hope I can fulfill my dreams too.

  3. Jeff, the vid about every yes being defended by a thousand no’s just made somethings really clear to me! Now I know how to declutter my life an my desk! Thanks so much.

  4. Thanks Jeff, you always have a good perspective that I can really relate to.

  5. Hi Jeff, great video! I love it when business leaders talk about their experiences in nature. I’ve had moments similar to your experience sleeping in the cottonwoods with the deer. It’s such a great way to get creative insights and find your purpose in life and business. What advice would you give someone who wants to create products and online coaching programs that help people connect with nature? Do you have any PLF students doing similar businesses?

      • Thanks for your response Jeff… I’m very curious to learn more about those PLF Owners. It would be nice to find some other businesses in a similar niche as my own. I sent your support team an email to try and get more details.

  6. Jeff, you have no idea how much this message speaks to me. I am frustrated every day from this “amazing” corporate career. This reminds me why I need to continue putting many hours into creating the like and income I want. I am not sleeping tonight. Thanks to this message.

  7. Very inspiring. And it made me cry as I had the same kind of dream/aspiration at 15, yet I end up in a corporate job and feel that I somehow missed the mark with my life. Now I am thinking that I don’t want to have an average retirement or even a miserable one when the time comes (soon enough), I don’t want to miss the mark another time. A powerful video and message. Thank you Jeff.

  8. This was the first message that I received on this beautiful Sunday morning. It was inspirational, especially since I am in a corporate job living in a cubicle for 40+ hours a week. It just makes you think about the options that exist to just get away from it all.
    Thank you for sharing this insight!

  9. Scott Conorton

    Reply

    Beautiful shot across the bow – can’t wait to read the new book, Jeff.

    • @Scott: not really a “shot across the bow”… I haven’t even started writing it. It will be a couple of years to get it done and published. 🙂

  10. OH MY GOSH! I love this on so many levels! Michael just showed this to me and said, “You’re going to love this!” Well, I did! Then I said, “I’m so excited that we’ll get to see him and Mary in April. And then … he said you weren’t going to be able to come this time. I’m very, very sad right now. 🙁 I was going to pick your brain all about cross country skiing, etc., etc., and bask in your tales of wilderness adventures. Know this, you will be missed. Can’t wait until we really DO get to see you guys. Thanks for taking the time to capture this beauty.

    • @Gail: yes, I’m bummed we won’t see you in April. But I’ve got some ideas for you and Michael about getting out on an adventure like this, 🙂

  11. Hey Jeff ,

    Brilliant absolutely brilliant , i am currently on the side of the Mediterranean sea its warm and sunny , and i am going to change the focus of my life to make it even better ,

    one yes and a 1000 no’s

    i will say yes to that

  12. So inspiring…I am so lucky to have a piece of heaven in my backyard that I am appreciating more and more hearing inspiring stories like yours. Thank you Jeff.

  13. Somehow this was a message from a loving Universe to me and my daughter as we both travel our own roads to the lives we envision. I include my daughter because this week while traveling from Durango (yes, Jeff, Durango!) to Seattle, her car broke down in Green River, Utah! With help from a kind service station man, she abandoned her dead car and made it onto a train to Salt Lake City and boarded a plane to Seattle–all with her cat in tow since she is temporarily moving to Ketchikan, AK, to start her next contract as a traveling physical therapist. She lived her own version of the movie “Planes, Tranes, and Automobiles!”
    You talk about relationship building and how important that is, Jeff, and how we, your clients must feel like we have a personal relationship with you. I, for one, KNOW that I have a connection with you even though I know you do not really know who I am. (I consciously repeated the word “know.”) At best, if I am on the radar of any of TeamWalker, I could be termed the lurker who is not producing. I now understand that I am on my own timetable and my time is coming.
    The insights in this week’s blog with your story about your moment of clarity while rafting on the Green River in Utah gave me my moment of clarity. Suddenly, I saw how it does not serve me or anyone in my world, to live small and not fulfill my destiny in this lifetime instead of living big with my dreams of a more fulfilling life.

    Thank you, Jeff, for contributing to my life’s journey.

  14. Hi, Jeff, I listened to your message on Sunday morning after my journaling session which includes a time of reflection on the pevious day. Your comment that a yes must be defended by a thousand “nos” and your examples of what you have been saying no to strongly reasonated with me. I am beginning today to decide more precisely what I will say yes to and thereby decide what and how to say no to. This will become a life-changing decision. Thanks for sharing your insights. Bob Moore

  15. Jeff, I know that pull to the west. I’ve felt it for many, many years and it’s finally happening! June I’ll be moving to Colorado (breathing down your neck, there’s an alpaca ranch in Hesperus that called me.) My moment was while visiting a friend in Denver and we took a drive into the mountains. I couldn’t believe you could leave a bustling city and within minutes be in nature, with all her wonders.
    There is a clarity when dreaming about something so much and so long that when it happens, you sit back and go, YES, this is what I put out.
    See you in D. Joes!

  16. Awesome video as always, Jeff. I’ve been following you for some time now and always enjoy your posts and love hearing this personal story from you about locking in that magic moment – and never loose it out of your sight. Really inspiring!

  17. Wow Jeff. Thank you so much for sharing. Makes me miss Colorado a lot but also makes me so thrilled that I am in this program and moving along. You are right… It’s not about the things we can buy with an abundant financial life, it’s about the experiences we can have and the time with the people we love! Thanks as always for your wonderful sharing!!! What a wonderful video and sharing for a Sunday morning!

  18. Beautiful! Thanks for sharing. This is sweet intention to start a new week building a different life that offers goodness to my tribe and more flexibility to enjoy my family time.

  19. Good morning Jeff! I woke up early this morning with an idea, but of course decided to check my inbox and what a wonderful Sunday morning message from you. Thank you!
    I grew up camping and hiking in the Sierras with my grandparents and parents. My decision to not take a corporate job and become an herbalist happened one summer when I turned down the job and decided to live in Yosemite and hike the John Muir Wilderness. That one decision has informed my entire life. Thanks for the reminder of how powerful the wilderness can be in guiding our lives

  20. I loved this video Jeff. I love how you love the wilderness. Being outdoors is special & inspires me in so many ways. Taking the fresh air in and looking up at the clouds makes me unbelievably happy.
    I loved how the sun started to come out just at the last part of your video.
    Thanks for sharing.

  21. Hey Jeff,

    Very, very cool video from a very cool guy. I’m also a back country hiker as well an I can really relate. Thank you for sharing this with us. The photography is beautiful. Out of curiosity, what kind of video camera do you take on these trips? Gopro? Keep these videos coming.

  22. Jeff, very helpful as always. Your video encouragements have become a Sunday morning tradition for me that I really enjoy. Thanks for all you do to help us!

  23. It’s so beautiful out there. I love nature, too! My husband and I are playing on a skiing trip to Colorado with the kids. We’ve never been skiing before, so, we are very excited!

  24. Cabin in the wilderness… every yes-1000 no’s. Reinforces what I already know …that I feel incredibly stuck in my cubicle world of 40 +hours. 50 too soon to retire. Is it too late to dream of something better something different?

  25. Nice Jeff! I have a similar journey, though mine is definitely still in the works. Took a corporate sabbatical and landed at Copper Mointain for a few years, then finally lost my corporate job and have been online full time ever since.

    Planning to get back to CO permanently on the near future.

  26. Hi Jeff,

    You’re such an inspiration! A decent, genuine person, whose mesaages I really get. Thank you so much for sharing with us!

  27. Hi Jeff. Excellent video. Thank you. You triggered many thoughts and in the midst of a crazy, somewhat down morning for me, snapped me back into alignment – in my approach and thinking. I see, from your video and in the string of comments, a consistent mix of common threads, including outdoors/environment/wilderness, focusing, unplugged time, and more. I captured one nugget from you in this video and wonder if you’ve got or will have other posts or materials regarding the concept of “Set The Intention”. You referred to this in your statement about the one turning point moment in your life that you decided to take control and create the life you want to live. I’m struggling with this on a daily basis and would welcome the opportunity to see, read, hear more from you on the subject. Best regards, Eric

  28. Hello Jeff
    You have put into words what I have done most of my 3/4 century life. Focus, focus, focus on one main “THE GOAL”.
    Retired the first time at 31, and only that one time which lasted 3 months. Never again.
    Only problem I ran into was not doing that. It was some of the costs (missed out on) because of that focus.
    If I were to start over again, I would structure a little more balance.

  29. Excellent message Jeff! Who wants to live a typical or average life? I don’t that
    s why I joined PLF. Thanks for sharing!

  30. Hi Jeff, many thanks for putting this video together. Terrific, we just made a similar move, got out of hedge funds and are building a great new company, writing books. Were up in Cordillera Colorado for half the year, Florida and Italy the rest, come visit anytime, Anric and Lauralouise Blatt

  31. This video is the best one you’ve ever done, in my opinion. There’s a deep feeling of inspiration coming out of you speaking from your truest self.

  32. Jeff, your video has literally brought tears into my eyes, because I could see myself in you…
    I don’t want to lead an ordinary life either, I want to make an impact on the lives of the people I get to serve and help, I want to be able to have a business that offers me time and location freedom, allowing me to work in the most beautiful places on earth.
    Thank you so much for being a role model and an inspiration for me!

  33. Thank you Jeff for this amazing video and another great message. You have inspired me first through your free trainings and your book and for the last few months through PLF and Launch Club to lead the way for my autism tribe. Thank you for leading the way for me and so many others!

  34. Hey Jeff….you’re speaking my language! Hiking and being outdoors is definitely a drug that gets me inspired and refreshed. Need one of these trips soon. Where exactly was this cabin?

  35. Susan Olmstead

    Reply

    Good Morning, Jeff:

    I have enjoyed watching the video on you and your wife’s winter camping trip in the mountains. What a beautiful, inspiring place to be able to clear your head, create peace and bring more abundance into your life! I can understand the “Why” of how much it means to have a place to travel that is your own without anybody around. You really get to do your own thing! Your wife is very lucky to have a husband who is extremely kind, generous, giving, very loveable and flexible, too! At least this is what I see in you! Jeff you’re a great teacher, entrepreneur, and all around person! Keep up the “Great” work!

  36. William McPeck

    Reply

    Your backcountry Colorado hut looks some majestic! Beautiful scenery. Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.

  37. I think your statement “Every yes must be defended with a thousand no’s” has rung true for me with marketing voices. I am glad I said yes to you!

    Having too many voices messes with my focus and makes me doubt my next.

    Thank you!

  38. What a wonderful story, Jeff! Thank you for sharing this and for sharing the PLF so we can also choose how we want to live our lives.

  39. Hey Jeff,

    We love our Colorado life too — so much to do here to feed one’s soul! We went on a hut trip to Sangree Hut (one of the 10th Mountain huts near Leadville) just last weekend with 14 other people and were reminded about how amazing it is to live in a place where you really can live a dream life. Our mantra is work to live (instead of live to work) and we do all that we can to keep that as our central priority. Thanks for being a great role model for how to do that successfully!

    Take care,
    Jen

  40. Jeff, thank you so much for this inspiring video. At 68 years old I realize my time left is short but perhaps still long enough to make it great.

  41. It is an amazing video. There is a transcendental power in your message and a feeling of presence, as if it is not a video but a face to face conversation with very intimate and close friends. Thank you for including us.

  42. Jeff:

    Began working with Infusionsoft for my first launch. Your webinars have been instrumental along with the Infusconsoft staff to making it happen. I too had that “moment” when everything became clear. I was coming off my10th corporate job and was thinking there must be more. I took on a coaching business for business owners from 2006-2011 and in 2011 i refined to to Career Coaching with individuals which was what I have been gravitating to. You and Eban Pagan really gave me the foundation to make this happen. Still looking for yesses from clients as this launch is just in the middle. I’m ignoring the unsubscribes and focusing on the plusses. Thanks, again. Bob

  43. Jeff:
    Your video is so true! I moved out of the Yukon and did the corporate world for awhile, sure glad to be back here! Everyday I count my blessings that I get to be in the wilderness all the time. Winter time usually just day trips but summer time I go for months, it’s amazing! So blessed also that I can use PLF as it gives me that time to spend out there. Thank you!

  44. Thank you for this amazing message. I’ve been doing consulting for more than 10 years and recently attempting to shift my focus over to do more of what I consider “my work”. You just put it all into a nutshell for me. When I’m working on other people’s stuff (requests, projects, problems, solutions) then I’m not focused on my work. My professional career has pretty much always been helping others be successful and I lost touch with my own dreams and desires. This gives me courage to make some hard choices and get focused on what is important to me. #gratitude #boundaries #FindTheYes

  45. Jeff; Thank you for this thousand no’s. I see that has been the problem for me n many areas. But a question: are there ever exceptions? I have a daughter who has become ill – how do I say no to helping her, even when it costs me the time or energy I need? How does one balance more than one goal? And those you have helped in the past? How do we change the rules and make that stick? How do you say no elegantly is a video I cannot wait to hear!

  46. Hi Jeff,

    Have you thought about saying Yes or No to some wilderness experiences in Australia??

  47. Jeff, i am from Europe but live in Singapore. Nice place but busy & crowded. Sometimes I go to Bintan, an Indonesian island 40 min. by boat from Singapore. Bintan is 3x the size of Singapore with 1/10 of Singapore’s population. Sitting on a hill over there and looking at the sea at dawn or sunset is magic. Almost as magic as those Colorado mountains you showed. I’m building an online business. Being able to do it from the outdoors is one of my objectives. Thank you Jeff. Bart

  48. Hi Jeff,

    Thanks for this inspiring video. I am heading over from Scotland in April to spend time with you and other PLFers in Scottsdale.

    Here in Scotland there is a 95 mile walk through the West Highlands of Scotland extending from Glasgow, along Loch Lomond across Rannoch Moor, through the stunning Glen Coe and finally arriving at Fort William. One decision I made was to use this walk to introduce both of my sons (on separate occasions) to the diversity of the stunning wilderness here in Scotland when they were 11 years old. This is the stage at which they transitioned between primary and secondary school. So, to cut a long story short, both of these 5 day walking trips were dramatically different. My sons are now in there 20’s. The memories will stay with us forever. Your video resonated – thanks. See you in April.

    Jim

  49. Any helpful thoughts for someone who just left corporate to start an online business at 47. If it took you over 20 to get where you want to be, I am sometimes fearful I started too late. I have four teenage children and want to continue providing well for them.

  50. Also, what did you use to shoot your video, and what mic? You always have high quality recordings. Thank you for sharing and putting yourself out there. You inspire many people 🙂

  51. Thanks Jeff. You and your wife are a good team! Wilderness is great. I am not really happy unless I have serious space and time alone, preferably in NATURE. I grew up doing your kind of thing, but not on skis. On snowshoes and horses, and on foot. Like, on a horse, the Los Alamos Mountains, 50 mile endurance rides when I was only ten. Or Southern New Mexico, the Renegade Endurance Rides (285 miles in only 5 days- except I did 2.5 days, because I HAD to share 2 days with my older sister, AND one of those half days I was so beaten down from the wind and sand in my eyes, someone rode my horse for me for the remaining 20 miles, but I did 2.5 days…wow. I can’t believe I could do that.

  52. Thank you so much for sharing your passion for the wilderness by taking us with you, Jeff! The beautiful, buzzing energy of that moment comes through loud and clear and reminds me how much perspective it gives me to be out there in the trees and the mountains. I used to live in a wood and I miss it terribly.

    I think this is my favourite of all your blog videos, it’s just magical, so thank you for making the tough decision to take a little bit of “work” with you on this trip. It was so worth it!

  53. My wilderness place is the beach – just spent the day there yesterday with my family on the beautiful wild east coast of New Zealand (where we live). We were bunking off school and work because we can – we created a life which gave us the control and I am forever grateful for that. I am still learning the art of saying no, and recently did this after saying yes to someone who was very persuasive. I went back with an no and it felt so good! I need to focus, and saying more no’s will get me well on my way. Thank you for sharing!

  54. Hello Jeff:

    Thank you for sharing you private experiences with us. I remember how nice and wonderful is to live those extraordinary expediencies in every ones life. I am from Peru, and I had my school holidays at 4000 mts above sea level, riding horses, hunting docs, sleeping in stone huts etc. I also remember my time in Sweden during winter with around minus 30ªC, full of snow and doing cross country. Also my travelling to Zambia Africa, working for an English Company, and enjoying the Victoria Falls and the wilderness of the jungle with elephants, crocodiles, monkeys and hippopotamus etc,

    Best regards

    Juan

  55. Hi Jeff, and as always Thank You! Your deliberate nature, focus and insights are always so welcomed and helpful. I unfortunately, say YES to everything. I hate to miss a potential opportunity right? You mentioned an elegant way to say “No”. You mentioned another video. Could you point me to that resource? If not, can you make one right away?
    Larry

  56. YOU Are in my back yard! I live in Norwood! One of these days we need to meet! You’ve just described my love of the wilds and wilderness. My husband was born here, I’m the inplant. Was offered a “corporate job” in 1997 in Denver and turned it down for all the reasons in this video. I’ve never regretted that decision. We also have a small cabin in the wilderness – Dolores County. Love life off the grid! Next time you come this way – contact me! I’d be happy to take you to lunch – at our Round House!

  57. Hi Jeff, thank you for sharing. I love the scenes.
    The experience with the Deer is wonderful, you heard the cry of the Heart, the soul and you listened. When you hear the soul it may take years to crystallize in life and when it does, life becomes fulfilling. A wonderful story!

  58. Marc-Andre Gagnon

    Reply

    thanks Jeff for the inspirational story. I always loved nature, but in the last few years as I have been moving from a corporate life to being an entrepreneur, I have not taken time to commune with nature.

  59. I agree Jeff… There is incredible clarity, peace, revelation and inspiration as we enjoy the wilderness! It is a glorious adventure! Especially in Colorado where I was born and raised and still live. 😁 Thank you for sharing.

  60. Moo thanks for the video Jeff, I feel the same way about sailing as you do about the mountains. I do feel that making an impact is when we are put on the earth for.
    Sean

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